Beijing Denounces Vietnam, Philippines 'Farce' On Disputed Islands

A Vietnamese boat nearly under water is being towed after it was reportedly rammed by Chinese vessels near disputed Paracel Islands, late last month.

Reuters/Landov

China is calling a friendly get-together between soldiers of Vietnam and the Philippines on islands in the South China Sea claimed by Beijing "a clumsy farce," demanding that the two countries cease-and-desist.

The gathering occurred Sunday on the Vietnamese-held island of Southwest Cay in the Spratly Islands. The two sides reportedly played soccer and volleyball in what Philippine naval officials described as a "chance to show there can be harmony despite a web of overlapping claims to the potentially energy-rich waters," Reuters writes.

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, quoted by Reuters during a daily briefing Monday, emphasized that Beijing has "irrefutable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and the seas nearby."

"Don't you think this small move together by Vietnam and the Philippines is at most a clumsy farce?" Hua said.

"We demand that Vietnam and the Philippines stop any behavior that picks quarrels and causes trouble ... and not do anything to complicate or magnify the dispute," she said.

The Spratly Islands are claimed by not only Vietnam, China and the Philippines, but also Taiwan, Malaysia and the sultanate of Brunei. The incident is the latest in a number of provocations over several small island chains in the South China Sea and East China Sea that have put China at odds with many of its smaller maritime neighbors.